[i]”Maybe we should try it. You know, being casual.”[/i]

Rob knew that the ultimate outcome of the evening would be something along lines such as these. Something about hearing it out in the open air was both cathartic and morose. A weird mixture of the pyrrhic comfort of a resolution and the bitter irony that he felt so strongly by being effected by the suggestion. 

Or, to place it in simpler terms, the fact that it was now [i]he[/i] that felt somewhat hurt by “casual” really fucking sucked. 

But…it was for the best. 

Jane was not wrong here. The clusterfuck of the last few weeks in particular could easily be traced to Rob and Jane’s personal issues. Nothing Austin or Sam did managed to get them into any sort of hot water, and Harold, for all his faults, seemed to be trying very hard to capitalize on the success of the band, even with the band didn’t want it. 

And as she continued to talk, Rob grew more and more sold on the idea. Because, when [i]was[/i] the last time the two of them hung out? And wrote music, or just chilled out together? It wasn’t during the tour, or so it seemed. Even when they did, there was always this bitter undertone of whatever emotional bullshit happened to be going on between them. It needed to come to a conclusion, and if casual was going to be the direction that led them there, so be it. 

Perhaps too conveniently, Rob felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He dared not check it now, but worried as to who it might have been. 

He couldn’t help but laugh next at the Jane’s assessment of him. That he had somehow made her better at expressing herself, when he had gotten so shit at it recently. 

“I wish I was better at it myself,” he said nearly to himself. For one of the first times in their conversation, Rob looked up to Jane’s eyes.

Those clear, vibrant eyes he had fallen in love sometime in the distant past. He wondered how he had managed all those years without admitting his affections even to himself. And, even if it weren’t the best course of action in his own mind, he would soon be back with her. 

And she would be with others. And so he would be as well. He wondered briefly in that split-second of eye-contact something he had wondered so many times before in this trip; how long it could truly last. 

“We’ve only got one more show,” Rob started again, “and then it’s Europe. I’ve been thinking about that a lot recently. Going into a different country and culture every night, being in a big bus with more people, touring with Vicarious…”

Rob trailed off. For both their sakes, he opted not to discuss that last bit any further.

“It’s gonna be crazy. And if we’re not on the same side of it, it could really fuck things up. So…yeah. I guess we should try it.”

Rob swallowed both spit and pride.

“We’re about to be a whole lot closer regardless. You ever think about that bus? I mean, seriously, we’re gonna be pretty damn short on places to fuck alone. Jesus Christ, I feel for Austin, Sam and the others.”

Rob laughed to himself. [i]It’ll work out,[/i] he told himself.

[i]It’ll be ok.[/i]